Apocrypha

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The Apocrypha refers to books of the Bible that are not considered part of the Biblical Canon - precisely which books varies between denominations.

The Protestant canon was formulated by Martin Luther, the Catholic by the Council of Trent. For some time the King James Bible contained apocryphal books in a separate section.

Books apocryphal to the Protestant canon include the books of Maccabees, Esdras and Tobit.

Western art continued to make reference to Apocryphal subjects long after they were deemed apocryphal - the story of Judith and Holophernes was popular with painters, whilst Handel wrote an opera, Judas Maccabeus based on the books of Maccabees.